


Muddy

by MathClassWarfare



Series: We're on a Road to Nowhere [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff and Angst, Inspired by Art, M/M, Side Quests
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 08:30:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16740586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MathClassWarfare/pseuds/MathClassWarfare
Summary: A side quest gets out of hand.—As requested by@mysteriousbean5, inspired by this amazinginktober drawing.





	Muddy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MysteriousBean](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysteriousBean/gifts).



The Chosen King and his three loyal retainers step carefully and deliberately through tall grasses, climb slick boulders, and peek under shrubs. The four friends have spent the last several hours criss-crossing the clearing around this pond, eyes and ears trained on the ground.

This is where Sania told them they could find the rare red frog she’s studying. They agreed to collect five. This last one’s a bitch. 

At least it’s not raining anymore. The sun is finally shining after more than a week of constant downpour. They’re looking forward to a clear night. 

“Where is this fucking frog?” Gladio kicks a rock, launching it into the water with a _plop_ , and startling Prompto.

“Easy, big guy. Don’t scare it away. We have to just be really quiet and listen, and—”

“Shut it, Prompto!” 

He replies in a tiny voice. “That’s what I was just saying.”

Noctis emerges from behind a tree to squeeze his best friend’s shoulder and shoot Gladio a _look_. Sometimes he can be a real asshole. Yelling at Prompto is like kicking a puppy. _Not cool_. 

“It’s nearly dusk. Perhaps Gladio and I should set up camp at that haven, there.” Ignis indicates the hill overlooking the pond. 

Noctis shrugs. “Sure.” He doesn’t love camping, but the caravan where they’d been staying was cramped and stuffy, and starting to smell. They’ve all been cooped up together for too long, and it shows.

“Hell yeah, if that means you’re cooking, Iggy!” Prompto brightens. “I mean, the Crow’s Nest is fine, but if you eat Kenny’s special salmon every day, it’s just not special anymore.” 

“I thought I would make skewers. There’s that anak meat we still need to use up.”

“Sounds good to me! Let’s get out of here.” Gladio picks up both of the portable terrariums supplied by Sania, and he and Ignis disappear over the hill.

 _Alone at last_. 

Noctis watches Prompto crouch down at the edge of the pond and cup a hand around his ear, listening intently for the faint frog song they’ve been hearing but haven’t been able to locate. 

Recently, they’ve been debating whether to tell Ignis and Gladio that they’re . . . whatever it is they are now since that night on the motel rooftop. ‘Boyfriend’ doesn’t feel quite right. Prompto’s still his best friend, it’s just different now. For the time being, they’ve been sneaking around, and taking advantage of every opportunity to feel out the new facets of their relationship. 

Prompto catches Noctis looking at him and grins. “Stop slacking dude! Let’s find this fucker so we can eat.”

It’s been a hot day, and they’ve searched every inch of the pond’s edge and the surrounding underbrush. Then they searched it again. Prompto’s bangs are sticking to his forehead, and his neck and shoulders are flushed. Freckles, bathed in the soft warm light of the setting sun, overwhelm Noctis’s thoughts. 

He doesn’t want to look for frogs anymore.

After hanging his camera from a low tree branch where he’d already stashed his jacket, Prompto approaches a log that’s sticking out into the pond. He places one tentative foot, pulls himself up so he’s standing, and takes a step. He moves slowly forward, one foot in front of the other, arms outstretched to maintain a precarious balance. 

Noctis follows him without much effort.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Prompto stumbles but quickly regains his footing. Head forward now, and eyes on his feet, he shouts so Noctis can hear him. “So what happened to divide and conquer?”

Noctis strides forward to close the distance, reaching his chin over Prompto’s shoulder to whisper in his ear. “Thought we could have more fun if we stick together.” He punctuates this with a smack on the ass that sends Prompto sliding off the log and face-first into the shallow pond. 

_Ohhh shit!_ Noctis doubles over, crying with laughter, still somehow balancing on the log. All those long training sessions he complained about as kid were worth it, for times like this. 

Prompto pushes himself up on all fours, sputtering and spitting, pond water dripping from the hair hanging in his face. He turns—open mouth and flashing eyes—to look at Noctis, who’s still laughing while attempting to apologize. “S-sorry dude! I didn’t mean to knock you off, I swear!”

Just as he was about to be helpful and extend a hand, Prompto lunges for him with a guttural battle cry. “ _Hnngghhhh!_ ” 

Noctis narrowly avoids his grasp by summoning a dagger and warping to the edge of the pond. Doing this in the middle of a hysterical fit leaves him totally sapped and gasping for breath. He’s put himself in stasis. 

His boots squish in the mud as he turns around and calls back to his best friend. “Hey! C’mon! I’m really sorry! _Really_!” 

On his feet now, undeterred and wearing a wicked smile, Prompto is running at full speed, water splashing at his heels.

 _Fuck!_ Noctis tries to get away, but the ground is sticky and Prompto is fast. Soon enough, he feels wet hands on his back and in his hair, and he’s careening forward into the mud. He holds his breath and squeezes his eyes and mouth shut. 

“Warp out of this!” Prompto crows victoriously, from Noctis’s back.

From the campsite above, he can hear Gladio’s guffaws. Then Ignis, calling down at them, voice heavy with annoyance. “You’re both sleeping outside.” 

Prompto jumps up at that. “Sure thing! Sorry Iggy!”

As the comparatively mud-free members of their party return to their tasks, Noctis hopes he didn’t just hear Ignis say something about “children.”

The King of Lucis scoots up onto his elbows and wipes his face with the back of his hand, clearing away just enough mud to see and breathe. He spits a few times and snorts a blast of air out his nose.

Just then, he spots a flash of shiny red skin, and rustling in a tuft of grass nearby. He reaches out and scoops up the last frog. “Got it!” 

He rolls onto his back and holds the bounty up towards Prompto, who crouches to address the creature. “Hey little guy! You sure were hard to find.” Looking down at Noctis, he laughs. “Oh man, your face!” He wipes at the edges of Noctis’s mouth with his relatively clean thumbs. “Sorry. I kinda went overboard.”

Noctis nods thoughtfully.“Yes, you did. Right into the pond.”

“You’re the worst!” Prompto groans, smiling. Then he subjects Noctis to a selfie, with his amazingly water-resistant Crownsguard-issue smartphone.

Carefully stowing the frog in his pocket, Noctis glances up towards the campsite to make sure the others aren’t looking. He slides his fingers into Prompto’s damp hair and pulls him in for a kiss. He leaves muddy patches all over Prompto’s face, which is only fair. 

They trudge up the hill like a couple of scrawny swamp things, with mucked up hair and squelching boots. Prompto has his camera wrapped up in his jacket, and places the whole bundle safely in a chair when they reach camp.

“We found it.” Noctis announces, nonchalant, reuniting the frog with its comrades in a terrarium.

“Congratulations.” Ignis is flipping the skewers. “Did it perhaps mistake the two of you for its own kind, and pop by to say hello?”

“Huh.” Prompto pauses and scratches at a mud deposit on the side of his nose. “Maybe?”

Gladio looks up from his book. “I woulda thought you preferred to take your mud baths at the spa, Princess.” 

Noctis is unfazed. “Cheaper this way.”

“And all natural!” Prompto raises his hand for a high five, but Noctis just shakes his head and walks away, to a water pump at the outskirts of the haven.

“Hey!” He chases after Noctis. “Why you wanna leave me hanging, dude?”

They put some effort into washing off the mud, and leave their sopping clothes to dry on the rocks surrounding a vein of fire energy. 

Dripping and draped in a threadbare towel, Prompto hovers by the campfire, where Gladio is reading. 

“Hey Gladio, so how come you’re still calling Noct ‘Princess’ even though he’s the king? I mean, it’s sexist too.” 

A tiny smile flickers at the edge of Noctis’s mouth before he ducks his head to towel off his hair. 

Gladio replies with something between a grunt and a laugh. “It’s just a term of endearment. Right Noct? Or do you want me to call you ‘your majesty’?”

Noctis rolls his eyes. “Whatever.” _SUCH an asshole_. 

But Noctis knows that his shield will be there when it counts, a strong front against whatever might come their way. Just like he knows Ignis will have his back, and Prompto will be at his side. 

The skewers are delicious. Gladio probably eats 30, and appears to be having a religious experience. 

Noctis and Prompto, who have been leaving a thin trail of dirty water everywhere they go, eat siting on the ground in their shorts.

Ignis eyes the puddle slowly forming around the two of them, and can’t help but cringe.

“Gladio, if I’m not mistaken we have an extra tarp stashed away. Noctis and Prompto can sleep on that tonight.” 

Patting his stomach, Gladio rises to his feet. “Yeah. I’ll go get it.” 

“Fine with me.” Noctis tosses his last wooden skewer into the fire. “I won’t have to listen to Gladio’s snoring.” 

“You sleep like the dead, Princess.” Gladio laughs as he walks to the car. “You ain’t listening to shit.”

— 

So they stay outside, sleeping bags zipped together, on top of the tarp. And they don’t have to worry so much about their friends hearing them, or catching a glimpse of their wandering hands and mouths. 

Somehow, Prompto falls asleep first. 

The stars are brilliant in the cloudless night sky. Looking up at them, Noctis thinks about how small he is. He wonders what it even means to be Chosen by a crystal on Eos, in the face of the whole universe. 

He knows he can’t delay it forever. Once they’ve collected the Royal Arms, and he and Luna wrangle blessings from as many Astrals as they can, they’re going to have to fight. He doesn’t know if they’re all going to make it. 

So right now, it’s nice to imagine that this life on the road is all there is. 

He thinks he could do this forever. He savors all of it. Odd jobs and favors, like finding these frogs for Sania. Listening to his friends sing along to songs in the car. Card games in motel rooms. King’s Knight bouts outside caravans. Spending entire afternoons fishing. Making out with Prompto on the dock after Gladio and Ignis finally get bored with his fishing and walk away. Noctis even likes camping, on a night like this.

He shifts his gaze from the stars, down to the constellations of the sleeping boy at his side. Prompto’s frowning, with his eyebrows knitted together. Noctis wonders if he’s having another bad dream, and presses a soft kiss to his best friend’s temple.

He slides one more stray clump of dirt out of Prompto’s hair, and flicks it away. Then he pulls himself close and holds on tight, bracing himself for his own dreams, whatever may come.


End file.
